All sorts of strange things make it through the letterbox at Bluesbunny Towers. There have been musical instruments (a tambourine), food (a bowl of chilli) and even some music that we actually grew to like. Fitting squarely into that last category is “The Listed Building” EP by Something Beginning With L.
Starting with “Angel Sized”, it became clear that my long held suspicion that indie rock was actually a girlie thing had finally been proven and one listen to this song brought oft missing oodles of charm to this justly maligned genre and simultaneously established more credibility than a thousand Carlsberg drinking pretty boys would ever attain in their efforts to be The View. However, there is more to this three piece band than upsetting the apple cart of those floppy fringed future guitar heroes.
Indeed, the other songs comprising this EP take a rather different route as flighty harmonies and fragility are the order of the day. Only we are not talking the Smittens here. “Younger Thoughts”, for instance, is all fluffy and misty like La Sera without the cuteness but, and it’s hard to put your finger on the why, you can also hear the shadows. On the other hand, a wispy cover of Magoo’s “Expansion Ride” comes over as adorable in the vulnerable way that kittens area and soon obliterates all those inbuilt feelings of cynicism that normally protect a reviewer from any display of enthusiasm.
Rounding off the EP is “Unwittingly Beautiful”. For a song about obsession, this one floats like candy floss strands in the warm summer wind that surrounds a magical fairground. If this song were a book then it would be The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
With a sigh, I put this review to rest. As Mozart – never one to hold back in matters of musical praise - would no doubt have said (if he had come from South Central LA), the sh*t is happening here!